In narrowing down the lineup for its 53rd FilmFestival, Cannes 2000 programmers viewed nearly 1,400 films — an increaseof nearly 25% over last year. 23 films from 15 countries are screening in acompetition that once again includes an array of notable filmmakers fromaround the world.

As reported on indieWIRE.com yesterday when the Festival has announced itscompetition, non-competition, Un Certain Regard, short film andCinefondation lineups, the 2000 Festival will open on May 10th with RolandJoffe‘s “Vatel,” and will close on May 21st with Denys Arcand‘s “Stardom“Joffe is the Oscar-nominated director of “The Mission” and “The KillingFields,” while Arcand is perhaps best known as the 1989 Cannes Jury Prizewinner for “Jesus of Montreal.”

Among the anticipated new movies are those from a group of internationalauteurs, including Lars von Trier‘s eagerly awaited “Dancer in the Dark,”starring Bjork, Wong Kar-Wai‘s new untitled project and Ken Loach‘s “Bread andRoses.” Loach is a Cannes favorite, having won awards at past festivals for“Hidden Agenda,”“Raining Stones,” and “My Name is Joe.” Twenty-year oldSamira Makhmalbaf returns to Cannes after last year’s “The Apple,” with“Takhte Siah.” Also returning are Swedish director Roy Andersson with “Songs>From the Second Floor,” and Amos Gitai (“Kadosh“) with “Kippur.” Bergmanactress and collaborator Liv Ullmann will be in France with “Trolosa,” as willthe respected Tawainese filmmaker, Edward Yang with “Yi Yi” (A One and aTwo). Olivier Assayas, director of last year’s “Late August, EarlySeptember,” as well as “Irma Vep” (1996), returns with “Les DestineesSentimentales,” while Arnaud Desplechin, director of “La Sentinelle” and “MySex Life. . . or how i got into an argument,” will be in Cannes with“Esther Kahn” and Summer Phoenix in the title role. Finally, also at theFestival will be an elder statesman of Japanese Cinema, Nagisa Oshima(“Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,”“Realm of the Senses,”“Cruel Story ofYouth“) with “Gohatto.”

Cannes Festival organizers have clearly tapped into the changing face ofAmerican independent and the emergence, and what we call Indiewood. “Lesfrontieres traditionnelles entre Majors, mini-majors et purs independantss’estompent de plus en plus et ne significant plus grand chose,” the Festivalindicated in its press release commentary, meaning, “The traditionalboundaries between majors, mini-majors and pure independents grow more andmore blurred and they are no longer a big deal.”

Underscoring the point, the Festival singled out four films, new toAmerican audiences, that best embody the best of American “independent” cinema:Joel Coen‘s “O Brother, Where Art Thou” (produced by Working Title and to bereleased by Disney), “The Yards,”James Gray‘s follow-up to “Little Odessa“(produced by Miramax), Neil LaBute‘s Propaganda/Polygram produced, “NurseBetty,” to be released by USA Films and Amos Kollek‘s European-financedindie “Fast Food, Fast Women.”

Notable filmmakers in other categories include John Waters out ofcompetition with his latest, “Cecil B. Demented,” also out of competitionare Darren Aronofsky with his second feature, “Requiem for a Dream,” BarbaraKopple with “A Conversation with Gregory Peck,” Ang Lee with “CrouchingTiger, Hidden Dragon,” and Eurythmics‘ Dave Stewart with “Honest.” In the UnCertain Regard section, Kristian Levring will be presenting the latest DOGME95 film,“The King is Dead,” while Arturo Ripstein will screen “Asi Es La Vida.”Also in the section are Griffin Dunne with “Famous,” Fina Torres with “Womanon Top,” and the directorial debut of Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros,“Capitaes de Abril.”

New at Cannes this year is an expansion of the Palais, dubbed “EspaceRiviera,” which will be used by the Market. Also new is a 300-seat theater,The Luis Bunuel,” for retrospectives, including a salute to Agnes Varda anda look at the work of Otar Iosselleliani. The Festival also announced thatit will have electronic subtitling in the Lumiere, Debussy and Bunueltheaters.